


Infection

by sydnii



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-12 12:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7933957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sydnii/pseuds/sydnii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gems haven't seen a case of Gem Pox since they were back on Homeworld. They have no clue what it's doing here on Earth - but naturally, they're going to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Dude. That was my breakfast,” said Amethyst, crossing her arms.

“There were flies all over it,” said Pearl. “It’s unhygenic.”

“What does hygenics have to do with anything, anyway?” grumbled Amethyst, as she casually kicked over the trash can. A swarm of flies clouded her foot. Various bits of paper, packaging, and even a mystery liquid, trickled out onto the floor.

“If humans don’t have hygeine, they get sick. And heaven forbid—“

A-CHOO! 

Amethyst raised her eyebrows. “Like that?”

“Ugh, I blame you!” shouted Pearl, rushing up the stairs to Steven. Her ballet flats made no noise against the wooden steps. 

Eh, suit yourself, the kid’ll live, thought Amethyst.

—

“Steven! I came as fast as I could! I heard you do that— that— that thing!”

“What, sneezing?”

“Yes, that one!”

“Oh, yeah,” said Steven, wiping a finger under his nose. “A feather came out of my pillow and floated around me, a little too close for comfort. I think I’m allergic.” He shrugged, and turned back to his video game.

“Oh, don’t say such silly things,” said Pearl. “A feather is completely harmless! You’re SICK, that’s what it always means when humans sneeze. It’s never a good thing. I read about it in—“

“Uh, Pearl?” said Steven. “I’m fine, I promise. Also, I think Amethyst knocked the trash can over again — something up here is starting to smell pretty rank.” He rubbed his finger under his nose again, but this time left it there, as if it was a shield against the stench.

“Oh, she can wait,” said Pearl, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get you into bed.”

“But I’m not—“

“Pajamas, bed, now!” said Pearl. “I’ll be back up in a flash with some warm milk and honey, and tissue papers, and disinfectant, and—“

“But Connie is coming over today!” said Steven.

“Oh, that’s right!” said Pearl. “I forgot, I said we could finish up that sword fighting lesson. Well, I’ll make sure to tell you how it goes. You, young man, will be having a nap.”

Steven folded his arms. “Can I at least keep playing my game?” he grouched.

Pearl passed him the controller. “Now Steven, not one foot out of bed….” She gave him a loving pat on the head before dashing gently back down to the kitchen.

––

Early that afternoon, Steven had nearly beaten his game. He hadn’t sneezed even once since, but Pearl continued to check on him every five minutes. Steven was working out the puzzle before the final boss when the doorbell rang.

“Oh, that must be Connie!” said Pearl. “Right on time, as usual,” she said as she went to get the door.

“Hello Pearl,” said Connie. “Where’s Steven? Isn’t he joining us?”

“Not today, I’m afraid,” said Pearl. “Steven has come down with a human sickness, and is tucked up in bed.”

“Oh no!” said Connie. “Is he alright? Can I see him?”

“Connie, I’m fine,” called Steven. “It was just one feather sneeze, I swear!”

Connie cocked an eyebrow at Pearl. “Just one feather sneeze?” she said. “That seems pretty harmless to me, and he doesn’t sound sick.”

“Well, as I am the mother here—“

“I think you’re being overprotective,” said Connie. “Even more than my mom — and she’s a doctor AND overprotective by nature. But I understand.”

“Thank you,” said Pearl, walking toward the practice area as if to clarify that the conversation was over.

—

The afternoon training session went very smoothly. It was nearly five o’clock when they finally slowed down. Pearl was grinning from ear to ear, unable to hide the immense pride she felt for Connie. She was really learning fast. Connie was dripping sweat, little drops trailing the hard floor everywhere she went.

Suddenly, Steven was there, still in his pajamas.

“Steven!” said Pearl. “What are you doing here? Go back to bed, you know you want to get better!”

“I just wanted to give Connie a hug before she goes,” said Steven, opening his arms wide. Connie grinned. As they let go, they both turned to look at Pearl, as if to prove that everything was just fine— but she was standing still, staring, her mouth gaping open.

“Steven…” she whispered, still frozen. “Your… your arms…”

Little holes had been ripped in his pajamas, where dozens of tiny glittering shards pierced their way out of his skin.


	2. Chapter 2

Steven was tucked back in bed. Pearl was absolutely frantic, her feet barely touching the floor wherever she went. Garnet put a gentle hand on her shoulder to keep her still, just for a second. 

“Gem pox,” said Garnet.

“Gem pox? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m—“

“Always serious, yes I know!” said Pearl. You could practically hear the alarm bells going off inside her head.

“Um, Garnet?” said Steven. “Are gem pox like… chicken pox? But, you know, for gems?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t even know what chicken pox are!” said Pearl.

“Nope,” said Garnet. “But they’ve both got the word ‘pox’ in them, so I drew my own conclusions. Now, Pearl — we’re just fine here. Go finish up your lesson with Connie.”

“But Steven—“ The look on Garnet’s face told Pearl not to finish that sentence.

As soon as she and Steven were alone, Garnet crossed her legs and got comfortable on the edge of his bed. “Now Steven,” she said. “You know this is nothing to worry about, right?”

“It’s not?” he said, his eyes growing with relief.

Garnet shook her head. “It’s surprising, is all. Gem pox is very common back on Homeworld — it’s just like getting a cold here on Earth. But none of us gems have had it since coming to Earth — so I’m just concerned about how you caught it.”

“Maybe Peridot? Or Lapis?” said Steven. “I mean, they’re the only other gems that have been down here… except Jasper… and the rubies, I guess.”

“Mhmm,” said Garnet. “As far as we know, none of them had it. It would have looked exactly the way it does on you — tiny silver shards, like polka dots, all over the skin. We couldn’t have missed it.”

“So, do I just wait for it to go away?” asked Steven.

Garnet nodded. “Think of it as an opportunity to go through your list of games you wanted to replay. You’re exempt from missions for now, my friend. I’ll be back to check on you later.”

And with that, Steven got comfy, and Garnet tip-toed downstairs. Amethyst and Pearl were having a whispered conversation on the couch. Connie seemed to have been sent home. They both looked up as Garnet came in.

“I’m going to investigate. Steven knows what he needs to know — not another word to him from either of you until we know exactly what’s going on.”

“Wait, Garnet!” said Amethyst. “You can’t just lie to him like that!”

“What makes you think I did?”

“I… well, you can’t just omit information, either!” said Amethyst. “He needs to know he’s trusted.”

“I didn’t omit anything, either. I told him what he needed to know, calmly. Emphasis on calmly.”

“Oh. Well, good,” said Amethyst.

The flash of light filled the room from the warp pad, and with that, Garnet was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The landscape was desolate. It was both loud and strikingly quiet, the kind of place where there is nothing to hear, yet every noise you make is amplified, as if the world itself is trying to fill in that void of silence. For several hours, Garnet looked at nothing but her feet as she trudged along the sand dunes of this desert. Why she had warped here in particular, she couldn’t say. It was an instinct, the one future vision that had really stood out to her among the possibilities. But it was proving to be a barren case, and she soon decided it was time to move on.

She warped home.

-

Pearl was first to get to her upon her arrival.  
“What did you find?” she asked, desperately.  
“Nothing.”  
“…Where did you go?” asked Pearl.  
“A desert.”  
“Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t have left this one up to you.”   
“Hey,” said Garnet, putting a finger to Pearl’s gem on her forehead. “I have future vision. You do not. At the very least, I can narrow locations down from infinity to… approximately 54.”  
Pearl groaned, but admitted defeat. “What is it that you’re looking for, anyway?”  
“I don’t know,” said Garnet. “But I’ll know when I find it.”

—

Steven was up all day, but went to bed early upon Pearl’s insistence. Just because he was feeling fine, didn’t mean he was fine. Pearl lay on a blanket on the floor beside him, attempting the art of sleep herself to no avail.

Meanwhile, Garnet paced. She paced the living room, tip-toed up and down the stairs, and when that became too much, she began doing laps around the house. It had been so long since she’d had something to puzzle over — if she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have been enjoying it. The longer she paced, the more she began to think out loud.

— It’ll take months to search everywhere I think might hold answers.

— It still has to be done.

Suddenly, she froze. A new possibility. But why… why there, she wondered.

—

It was early the next morning when Steven woke up and Pearl gratefully stopped pretending to sleep. As Steven poured himself a bowl of chocolate-y cereal, Pearl lingered, inspecting Steven with as much subtly as she could muster.

The shards still covered his arms, thin and gleaming. It looked as though someone had shattered a mirror over him and Steven had never bothered to pick out the bits. Oh, how she wished it could have been that simple — not that she wished violence on Steven, of course.

“Steven?” said Pearl tentatively.  
“Mmm?” grunted Steven between mouthfuls of chocolate-y goodness.  
“The shards… they’re only on your arms, right?”  
“Mmmm…. Well…” he swallowed. “I didn’t see anything when I got dressed this morning. But I mean, it’s not like I can see my own butt or anything,” he said matter of factly.  
Pearl’s expression grew as flat as the prairies. “Yes, well,” she said. “That’s a good sign.”  
“That I can’t see my own butt?” said Steven, confused.  
“Steven, no!” said Pearl. “I mean that you haven’t seen anything else. And they don’t hurt, right?”  
“Nah,” said Steven. “I mean, not unless I—“  
“Don’t!” said Pearl. “Steven, you don’t want to move them out of place. It’ll just make it spread faster.”  
“Right,” said Steven, taking another mouthful.

It wasn’t until Steven proposed a group outing for pizza that Pearl realized Garnet had already left - and she had taken Amethyst with her.


End file.
